1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage device, particularly an all-in-one SATA interface storage device based on SATA interfaces for data storages, boot disk applications and convenient data transmission.
2. Description of the Related Art
The principal IT storage devices or media such as digital camera, recording pen, and music player rely on mature technology for manufacture of compact flash memories, particularly CF cards (Compact Flash cards), CFAST(CompactFlash)™ cards, CFEX cards, or CF-SATA cards, which are based on SATA interfaces (or other available interfaces) for data storages or boot disk applications and widely adopted in various IT products, and have been even taken as host computers' system hard drives substituting conventional IDE hard disks because of their multiple advantages including good compatibility, high access speed, high capacity, ultra-low power consumption, compact structure, dust prevention, good vibration strength, and impact resistance.
A conventional CF module (plug-in module) as shown in FIG. 1 for its structure and technology comprises: a CF slot 94, which is installed on a motherboard 90 and coupled with a CF card 95; a CPU socket 91 fixed on the motherboard 90 for a CPU to be mounted; expansion slots 92 (e.g., PCI bus); a chip 93; and relevant electronic components or circuits. As a high-speed high-stability transmission interface for data access, the conventional CF module still has some drawbacks, for example, the conventional CF slot 94 is available to a single CF card (i.e., CF module) for one single function. Therefore, two or more slots for storage cards (e.g., CF-SATA card, CFast card, or CFEX card) with multiple storage interfaces incompatible with each other have to be designed on the motherboard 90. Nevertheless, the current technology for data migrations among several types of storage cards is based on additional storage media, for example, an unideal design with a complicated operation mode and dissatisfactory time efficiency shown as follows: data in Storage Device A is reproduced in a host's storage media and then either Storage Device B or Storage Device C as a target device in which data in Storage Device A will be saved because of no direct data transmission between different storage devices. Moreover, the mechanism of removing data, which is originally saved in a user's old storage device to be replaced by a new one, to the new storage device is costly and needs to be further corrected because it discourages a user's willingness to try new storage media, disadvantaging development of new technology for storage media or improvement of work efficiency. Against this background, how to correct drawbacks in applications of a conventional storage interface deserves to be studied by persons skilled in the art.
Having considered defects and unideal structural design of a conventional storage interface in usage and operation for a long time, the inventor offered a solution and manufactured the present invention of an all-in-one SATA interface storage device featuring convenience, transmission efficiency, and economic benefits herein for the general public and development of the industry.